Beit Hillel: How to Invite Secular Shabbat Guests

According to Torah Law it is prohibited to cause a fellow Jew to transgress, for example, to violate the Sabbath. For this reason, religious families would avoid inviting secular guests for a Sabbath meal, in order to prevent them from driving on the Sabbath.

Beit Hillel Rabbis have provided a lenient ruling by which the invitation becomes permissible when full Sabbath lodgings are offered to the guest in advance, giving him an option to avoid using his car to go home during the Sabbath. This way, no one compelled him to drive on the Sabbath for lack of room and board. If he decides to go home anyway, it was of his own volition.

Beit Hillel stresses the significance of the Shabbat table experience as a means to maintain family unity and Jewish tradition.